French nuclear plant maker 'surprised' at regulator's criticism

Paris (Platts)--13Jul2006

Areva said it was "deeply surprised" by the critical report issued by
Finnish nuclear regulatory agency STUK Wednesday on delays in construction of
a 1,600-MW nuclear plant at Olkiluoto-3.
The French vendor, whose Areva NP unit is building the 1,600-MW EPR
(European pressurized water reactor) unit for Finnish utility TVO, said the
STUK report "reflects a unilateral point of view" and that it would seek a
meeting with STUK "to understand and clarify the situation."
STUK's report concluded that Areva NP--formerly Framatome ANP--had
underestimated the time needed for the work and thus committed to schedules
that caused "confusion" on the work site. It also said Areva had failed to
properly manage construction of the reactor basemat by a subcontractor. In
late 2003, Areva and Siemens committed to build the first-of-a-kind reactor
for TVO on a turnkey basis in 48 months, with commercial operation in
mid-2009, but the vendor and utility both announced this week that the plant
would be commissioned in the second quarter of 2010.
Areva said in a statement that "the investigation found problems in
construction but not (in) nuclear safety" and said it and TVO had always
reported on construction issues in a "regular and transparent" manner.

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